In late November I had the great pleasure of meeting Jonathan MacDonald at the The Hospital Club in Covent Garden. Jonathan is a passionate advocate of handing brands over to the people, calling for a conversation with the market rather than a one way broadcast. Actually understanding how this conversation can realistically be facilitated between brands and people is an entirely different kettle of fish - and that's where Jonathan comes in.
Idea Bounty is as much about giving control to the masses as it is about sourcing Ideas.I spent a good hour with Jonathan chatting through some of the shifts in perspective and assumption that need to take place for this to happen.
For those of you who have never met Jonathan he can be summed up as manic, passionate and fascinating. I hope you enjoy our chat.
We’ve put together a 30min audio clip of our casual chat over tea. Those of you with short attention spans can check out the summary of what I saw as the main thread of conversation below as well as an ad or two mentioned in our chat:
People are consumers when consuming and participants when participating but the rest of the time are just people.
Jonathan describes the practice of referring to people as consumers as degrading. We are not constantly consuming, but rather respond to products that fulfill an existing need. People do not choose to, and increasingly don't have to (thanks to things like PVR) watch adverts. The beautiful high production value TV ad, says Jonathan, exists solely to fund the rest of people’s TV entertainment. If you have to push your product or service, and convince people to buy from you, your brand is in trouble. Negative public perception is not a bad thing, it’s purely a mirror.
It follows then that any brand or product does not belong to you but rather to the people who engage with it.
The brand never belonged to you in the first place.
When discussing the age of conversation it is often suggested that there has been a change, but Jonathan points out that it has always been this way. Brand owners have control only up until the point they release their product into the market. Toyota may manufacture the car, but once someone has bought it, it belongs to them, and their perception of the car is the brand.Brand owners have no control and must embrace, to use an often used phrase, the wisdom of the crowds.
Brands that embrace and involve people will be embraced and involved by people.
As Jonathan said, this is almost too obvious. Idea Bounty is an example of the way a brand can receive the ideas not only of 5 ad exec’s sitting in a boardroom, but also of the 18 year old genius who’s still studying or has nothing to do with the advertising industry.
If the brand already belongs to the public, it stands to reason that their power should be recognised and embraced, because it cannot be controlled.
So, as a tool of mass communication and connection, is the Internet really the best way to have a real one on one conversation?
I brought up the point that hyper-activity does not necessarily result in real connections. Having 300 Facebook friends arguably results in less intimate conversations. So how do you use the Internet to make tangible connections?
Jonathan suggests that mass connection does not devalue relationships – but rather helps to define what a real connection is. The three connections amongst the 500 that are valuable become easily identifiable.
The same thing can be said here for brands, and must also result in a shift in approach. The “old model” involved speaking to millions in order to harness 50 advocates. Within the ‘new world’, and the more trackable world of the online realm, brand owners should first speak to the 50 people who identify with and believe in the brand. Those 50 should then be given the ability to spread the word. This is not only authentic communication; it also results in better ROI for marketers.
You can’t monetise the conversation, it’s about content, and “if that threatens your core business stream, well… sorry”.
Jonathan makes the point that companies must change their approach from one of broadcast to one of facilitation, and that this can only be done if everyone gets involved and is allowed to get involved. “It’s not about dissemination it’s about whether or not people want the content”.
And finally, what content does he want and where does he get his online inspiration from?
Jonathan listed a few sources: he’s invested in the world of VRM, and thus follows Adriana Lukas. He has also been keeping an eye on Head London, Promise Corp and Quirk as companies that are indicative of how agencies will look in the future – and as companies who understand that it’s about people. Out of the 900 feeds he reads Jonathan also listed a few blogs: Gaping Void, Logic and Emotion, and Jaffe Juice.
